History

Victory Stadium was constructed in 1942. The name was meant to be a rallying cry for Allied

Allies of World War II

The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...

 victory in World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. The stadium seated approximately 25,000, which made it the largest football stadium in Virginia when it opened, and regularly hosted games with large crowds during the first decades of its existence. Most famously, Victory Stadium hosted an annual Thanksgiving Day game between Virginia Military Institute

Virginia Military Institute

The Virginia Military Institute , located in Lexington, Virginia, is the oldest state-supported military college and one of six senior military colleges in the United States. Unlike any other military college in the United States—and in keeping with its founding principles—all VMI students are...

, or VMI, and Virginia Tech, then known as VPI, until 1969. The game was part of a day of festivities which included a parade

Parade

A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, floats or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually celebrations of some kind...

 from downtown Roanoke to the stadium. From 1958 to 1969, Victory Stadium also hosted an annual game, typically featuring VPI, known as the Harvest Bowl. From 1946 to 1950, the South's Oldest Rivalry between the University of Virginia

University of Virginia

The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...

 and the University of North Carolina

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States...

 was held at the stadium. Roanoke's now closed Jefferson High School attracted large crowds in the 1950s and 1960s and won the state championship in 1957. In 1971, Victory Stadium hosted the Virginia High School League

Virginia High School League

The Virginia High School League is the arbiter of interscholastic competition among public high schools in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Unlike similar organizations in many other states, private or religious schools are prohibited from joining. Non-public schools belong to other organizations,...

 Group AAA state football championship in which T. C. Williams High School

T. C. Williams High School

T. C. Williams High School is a public high school in Alexandria, Virginia, named after former superintendent Thomas Chambliss Williams of Alexandria City Public Schools who served from the mid-1930s to the mid-1960s...

 of Alexandria, Virginia

Alexandria, Virginia

Alexandria is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of 2009, the city had a total population of 139,966. Located along the Western bank of the Potomac River, Alexandria is approximately six miles south of downtown Washington, D.C.Like the rest of northern Virginia, as well as...

 defeated Andrew Lewis High School

Andrew Lewis High School

Andrew Lewis High School is a former high school in Salem, Virginia, US which was named after Andrew Lewis, an American pioneer, surveyor, and soldier from Virginia. He served as a colonel of militia during the French and Indian War, and as a brigadier general in the American Revolutionary War. who...

 of Salem, Virginia

Salem, Virginia

Salem is an independent city in Virginia, USA, bordered by the city of Roanoke to the east but otherwise adjacent to Roanoke County. It is part of the Roanoke Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 24,802 according to 2010 U.S. Census...

 27-0. T.C. Williams' season was depicted in the 2000 film Remember the Titans

Remember the Titans

Remember the Titans is a 2000 American sports film produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and directed by Boaz Yakin. Inspired by real events, the plot was conceived from a screenplay written by Gregory Allen Howard. The film starts as a new coach of the Titans, a football team previously coached by the...

 although Andrew Lewis was replaced with another team in the film's championship game. In 1973, Roanoke's Patrick Henry High School

Patrick Henry High School (Roanoke, Virginia)

Patrick Henry High School is a public high school located in the Grandin Court neighborhood of Roanoke, Virginia. It is one of the two general enrollment high schools for the Roanoke City Public Schools.-History:...

 won the Group AAA state football championship, defeating T.C. Williams, 9-0, at Victory Stadium in a semifinal match. In 1996, Victory Stadium hosted the Group AA, Division 4 state football championship in which Salem High School

Salem High School (Salem, Virginia)

Salem High School is a public high school in Salem, Virginia. It is the sole high school for the .-History:Salem High School was opened for the 1977-1978 school year by . The student bodies of Andrew Lewis High School in Salem and Glenvar High School in western Roanoke County were consolidated...

 defeated Sherando High School

Sherando High School

Sherando High School is a public secondary school within Frederick County, Virginia, and is part of Frederick County Public Schools. The school is located east of the town of Stephens City.-History:...

 of Stephens City, Virginia

Stephens City, Virginia

Stephens City is an incorporated town in the southern part of Frederick County, Virginia, United States, with a population of 1,829 at the time of the 2010 Census....

 20-12. In 2004, Roanoke's William Fleming High School

William Fleming High School

William Fleming High School is a public high school in the Miller Court/Arrowood neighborhood of Roanoke, Virginia, U.S.A.. It is one of the two general enrollment high schools for the Roanoke City Public Schools.-History:...

 defeated Magna Vista High School of Henry County

Henry County, Virginia

As of the census of 2000, there were 57,930 people, 23,910 households, and 16,952 families residing in the county. The population density was 152 people per square mile . There were 25,921 housing units at an average density of 68 per square mile...

 13-8 in a Group AA, Division 4 state football semi-final at Victory Stadium en route to a state runner-up season.

From the 1970s through 2005, Victory Stadium primarily served as the home football field for Roanoke's two high schools, Patrick Henry and William Fleming. Other special events were held at the stadium such as an annual 4th of July concert and a Dave Matthews Band

Dave Matthews Band

Dave Matthews Band, sometimes shortened to DMB, is a U.S. rock band formed in Charlottesville, Virginia in 1991. The founding members were singer-songwriter and guitarist Dave Matthews, bassist Stefan Lessard, drummer/backing vocalist Carter Beauford and saxophonist LeRoi Moore. Boyd Tinsley was...

 concert in 1998 which attracted the largest crowd in Victory Stadium's history. Franklin County Speedway owner Donald "Whitey" Taylor staged several stock car races in the stadium in 1991 and 1992; races had also been run during the 1950s and 1960s. The stadium's location next to the Roanoke River

Roanoke River

The Roanoke River is a river in southern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina in the United States, 410 mi long. A major river of the southeastern United States, it drains a largely rural area of the coastal plain from the eastern edge of the Appalachian Mountains southeast across the Piedmont...

 resulted in the field being flooded several times. The last serious flood occurred in the fall of 2004 and forced many home football games that season to be moved to other schools. Concerns about the stadium's structural integrity caused engineers to close off upper levels to fans in 2005. All home football games for the 2006 season were scheduled to be played at other schools in the Roanoke area before the stadium's fate was decided. The final game played at Victory Stadium was a 42-16 William Fleming victory over Alleghany High School

Alleghany High School (Covington, Virginia)

Alleghany High School is a public secondary school in Alleghany County, VA, United States. It is part of Alleghany County Public Schools and is located on 210 Mountaineer Drive...

.

Controversy

The future of Victory Stadium was on the city of Roanoke's agenda from the early 1990s until 2006. Some residents favored the stadium's replacement with another facility or facilities to provide home football fields for the city's high schools and to provide a venue for outdoor concerts and events. Arguments in favor of this alternative were that the stadium was far too large for high school football games, which rarely drew more than a few thousand spectators after the early 1970s, and was ill-suited for concerts. The site had few parking spaces and is vulnerable to flooding, which necessitated costly clean-ups and repairs. Proponents of the stadium's renovation cited the stadium's contributions to the city's history. They also argued that a venue of Victory Stadium's capacity was a relatively rare asset for a city the size of Roanoke, which does not have a major university, and could regularly have drawn large events, such as the Dave Matthews concert, with aggressive and creative marketing. Other alternative events suggested were hosting a biannual football game between VMI and The Citadel

The Citadel (military college)

The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, also known simply as The Citadel, is a state-supported, comprehensive college located in Charleston, South Carolina, USA. It is one of the six senior military colleges in the United States...

 and hosting gravity games

Gravity Games

The Gravity Games were a multi-sport competition originating from Providence, Rhode Island that is broken down into Winter and Summer adaptations...

. Some also alleged that the city wants to transfer the property to Carilion

Carilion Health System

Carilion Clinic, formerly known as Carilion Health System, is a Roanoke, Virginia-based not-for-profit health care organization. Carilion owns and operates eight hospitals in the western part of Virginia...

, a Roanoke based company which operates nearby Roanoke Memorial Hospital

Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital

Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital is a hospital in Roanoke, Virginia, USA. The hospital has 825 beds, and is part of Carilion Clinic.-Services:Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital's emergency department is a certified level I trauma center...

 and is also establishing a biomedical institute and small medical school in the area. Both sides promoted their alternative as being more cost effective.

The matter was controversial in part because debate about the stadium often widened in broader disagreement about economic growth or the lack thereof, the preservation of historic structures, and the resistance to or acceptance of change in general. A generational divide between older Roanokers who remembered when the stadium was filled on a regular basis and younger ones whose experience was only with occasional large crowds for special events and small crowds for high school football games provided another dimension to the disagreement. In the early 2000s, Roanoke's city manager

City manager

A city manager is an official appointed as the administrative manager of a city, in a council-manager form of city government. Local officials serving in this position are sometimes referred to as the chief executive officer or chief administrative officer in some municipalities...

 Darlene Burcham supported a proposal to build a hybrid stadium near the Roanoke Civic Center which would have served both as a football stadium and a concert venue. Ground was broken before supporters of Victory Stadium's renovation persuaded Roanoke's city council to halt the project. Momentum appeared to shift towards a renovation until the 2004 flood resulted in an increase in support for replacement. In 2005, a proposal emerged to build small stadiums on the campuses of the two high schools. Whether or where an amphitheatre for concerts would be constructed was not specifically addressed. This proposal met generally positive receptions, although some residents who live near Patrick Henry High School opposed the construction of a stadium there because of concerns about traffic and other disruptions.

Demolition

The question of what to do with Victory Stadium was by most accounts the foremost issue in Roanoke's May 2, 2006, municipal election. A slate of three Democrats, running on an independent ticket dubbed "For the City" against the nominees of the Democratic and Republican parties, won seats on Roanoke's city council in the 2006 election. This slate supported the two stadiums proposal, which also had the support of Roanoke's mayor Nelson Harris

Nelson Harris

Nelson Harris is a former mayor of Roanoke, Virginia; his term ended on July 1, 2008. A Democrat, he was elected mayor in 2004 with 37% of the vote in a competitive three way race against Republican Alice Hincker and independent Delvis "Mac" McCadden. Harris had previously served on the school...

. Supporters of Victory Stadium's renovation pointed out that the other candidates for council received more votes in total.

The election rapidly set in motion the process of demolishing the stadium even before the "For the City" slate, which included two non-incumbents, was sworn in on July 1. On May 15, 2006, Roanoke's city council voted 5-2 to begin the search for a firm to demolish Victory Stadium.
In late May, the city accepted a low bid of $486,714, well within the city's $1.2 million budget allocation, from S.B. Cox, Inc., of Richmond, Virginia

Richmond, Virginia

Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...

 to tear down the stadium. On May 31, 2006, a citizen's group opposed to the stadium's demolition dropped its lawsuit against the city. The basis for the suit had been that the Norfolk and Western Railroad stipulated in its deed transferring the land to the city that a stadium be built and maintained on the site. Norfolk Southern Railway

Norfolk Southern Railway

The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I railroad in the United States, owned by the Norfolk Southern Corporation. With headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia, the company operates 21,500 route miles in 22 eastern states, the District of Columbia and the province of Ontario, Canada...

 released the city from this requirement. However, a separate lawsuit by one other citizen remained pending. Nonetheless, demolition began on Monday, June 26, 2006 at 7:30 am. Heavy rains resulted in minor flooding at the site on June 27. Demolition of the stadium was completed on July 5.

Several thousand bricks were saved from the stadium's facades. The remaining debris was transported to a landfill, except for the steel rebar

Rebar

A rebar , also known as reinforcing steel, reinforcement steel, rerod, or a deformed bar, is a common steel bar, and is commonly used as a tensioning device in reinforced concrete and reinforced masonry structures holding the concrete in compression...

 which was recycled. The city made the bricks available on July 8 and July 13. The distribution on July 8 was limited to city residents who drove to the distribution center near the stadium. Each car could take up to four bricks; pedestrians were not allowed in the line. Traffic backed up about one mile from the distribution center. The remaining bricks were distributed on July 13. City residents again received first preference, but non-residents were allowed in the line. After the experience of July 8, the distribution process was much smoother on July 13. However, that night, some persons broke into the demolition site and removed other bricks that had not been designated for the distribution. Within a few days, at least one brick was placed for sale on eBay

EBay

eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...

; bricks have also been sold on Craigslist

Craigslist

Craigslist is a centralized network of online communities featuring free online classified advertisements, with sections devoted to jobs, housing, personals, for sale, services, community, gigs, résumés, and discussion forums....

and at yard sales. Many Roanokers have had their bricks engraved to commemorate the stadium. Some bricks have also been set aside for a stadium memorial.

The site of Victory Stadium now has several athletic fields, which has added fields to those at the nearby River's Edge sports complex. However, the city council voted in June 2007 to build an amphitheatre on the site.

New Stadia

Patriot Stadium opened on the campus of Patrick Henry High School for the 2007 season. The field was dedicated to former coach Merrill Gainer, who led the team to its 1973 state championship. Both Patrick Henry and William Fleming used Patriot Stadium as their home field for the 2007 and 2008 seasons; William Fleming's on-campus stadium is scheduled for completion for the 2009 season. Ticket sales at Patriot Stadium are limited to 3,000 as a concession to neighbors' concerns about traffic.

External links

• Article about the annual VMI-VPI Thanksgiving Day game and festivities
• Roanoke Times special section on Victory Stadium

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